People Who Can’t Vote Still Count Politically in America. What if That Changes?

… The Constitution is clear that congressional seats must be apportioned by total population. But states and local governments that would have comprehensive citizenship data in the next redistricting cycle could draw maps built on a very different population base, at a time when the country is growing more diverse, its child population particularly so.

Newly released census data show, for the first time, that the total population of children in America under 15 is now majority nonwhite. Any future political maps that exclude those children and noncitizens would further depress the power of urban areas that tend to vote Democratic and that are already structurally disadvantaged in redistricting. CONT.

Emily Badger, New York Times